Sales of Existing Homes at Best Level in 4 Years
Sales of existing single-family homes, bolstered by declining mortgage rates and continued strong demand, rose in April to their highest level in almost 4 1/2 years, a real estate trade association said Tuesday.
The National Assn. of Realtors said previously owned homes were sold at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.04 million units in April, the fastest pace since November, 1980.
Based on sales in the first four months of the year, the association estimated that 3.1 million existing single-family homes would be sold this year, making 1985 the best year for home resale since 3.8 million homes were sold in 1979.
“Recent declines in mortgage interest rates are helping an increasing number of families achieve the American dream of home ownership,” said David D. Roberts, president of the association.
A Strong Summer
Roberts, a Mobile, Ala., real estate agent, predicted that home sales would continue to improve through the summer but begin to decline toward the end of the year as interest rates start rising again.
The April sales pace represented a slight 0.3% increase over the March rate of 3.03 million units but was 9% above the level of last July, when interest rates reached their 1984 peak.
At that time, conventional fixed-rate mortgages hit 15.2%. Various analysts say such mortgages have now dropped to about 13% and could go as low as 12.25% in coming weeks.
The housing report also said the median price for a single-family home rose to $74,400 in April, a $200 increase over the March level. The median price means that half of the homes sold for less and half for more.
The national median sales price was only 3.2% higher than a year ago, lagging slightly behind the overall increase in consumer prices for the same period.
However, the price in the Northeast was 15.9% above a year ago. In April, the median sales price for a home in the Northeast was $88,800.
The most expensive prices were still in the West, where homes sold for $96,500 in April. The median price of an existing home was $72,400 in the South and $58,400 in the Midwest.
